Beskar
The research breakthroughs of Mandalorian scientist Zanzer Dukken led to the creation of new, advance forms of beskar, aka Mandalorian iron. Currently three variations of the rare ore now exist, though only Gen's II and III are readily available, with Gen III being the Mandalorian's biggest export. Generation II Creator/Researcher Mandal Research Inception Invented in 266 ABY, saw mass production Description Gen II is nearly identical to Gen I (ie. normal beskar) except that it uses less beskar and still provides the same level of protection. History Mandalorian iron has been a rare commodity to begin with, and the dwindling supply of it has become one of their national agendas. Their first step to correct the problem was to organize and send out salvage operations to scour Wildspace and the Unknown Regions for planets that might have deposits of Mandalorian iron, as well as gathering existing pieces of beskar (be it armor, ships, etc) and bringing it back to Mandalore to be melted down and reformed. Their second step was to begin founding a scientific base in their industry to research ways to improve existing Mandalorian iron. Mandal Research, a branch of MandalMotors, thus invented beskar Generation II. Gen II is nearly identical to Gen I (ie. normal beskar) except that it uses less beskar and still provides the same level of protection. Obviously this helped the small quantities of beskar to last longer and caused a big boom in the Mandalorian economy as owners of existing beskar wanted their armor melted down and reformulated into Gen II. Generation III Creator/Researcher Mandal Research Inception Invented in 291 ABY, saw mass production Description ''' Gen III allows Mandalorian iron to be mixed with common bulk metals to make an alloy which still has the armor consistency of normal beskar. '''History Twenty five years after the creation of Gen II, the famed Mandalorian scientist Zanzer Dukken created Gen III. He was the brainchild behind Mandal Research's initial breakthrough, and his obsession with arts of metallurgy drove him to the top of his field. Whereas Gen II brought a boom to the Mandalorian economy, Gen III sent it skyrocketing. For the first time ever, Mandalorian iron could be used in massed produce goods, be it personal armor or heavy plating for capital ships. Thanks to the pre-existing salvage efforts of the Mandalorians, a large stock pile of Mandalorian iron began to grow on Mandalore. However, the Mandalorians quickly passed trade restrictions of the exportation of beskar. Plus their metallurgy secrets were closely guarded. Thus beskar still remained a pricey commodity for the galaxy at large, and a common place good for the Mandalorians. Generation IV Creator/Researcher Mandal Research Inception Conceived in 297 ABY, first produced in 306 ABY, limited production afterwards Description Gen IV requires a larger amount of beskar in its use, but supplies a far superior level of protection and amazing heat absorbing properties. History All of Zanzer Dukken's research and accomplishments helped clear the Mando history tarnished by Demagol. Dukken's last break through before dying was the discovery of Gen IV. Gen IV, unlike the other advancements, used more beskar rather than less. It also had superior protective qualities. Whereas the other generations managed to keep in pace with the natural progresses of improved turbolaser technology, Gen IV surpassed it. The key was it's extraordinary ability to absorb heat. However, Gen IV has proved extremely difficult to process and is only available in very limited qualities. It's existence is also highly secret. Due to the Mandalorian's weakness in the science fields and the death of their leading scientist, Zanzer Dukken, they have been unable to further their advancements or take full advantage of the superiority of Gen IV for almost 300 years.